The Instruments of Fate
by Khain255
Summary: If you were given the chance to change the Dark path of the Future...Would you take it?


**Authors Note: Hello to all who venture on my path!**

**I had this story at the back of my mind whilst I was writing my first.**

**Though I understand the originality behind this is somewhat…lacking…but I hope you enjoy this story nonetheless**

**I really like the idea of second chances, to change the past to benefit the future…especially when the future is a bleak one…**

**It's a Time Travel story if you haven't guessed it :)**

**Which considering one of the movies, isn't QUITE as unbelievable in the Naruto universe**

**This story is a 'friendship' AND a '_General_' folks, and I stand by that…let me clarify what the latter means…it will cover pretty much EVERYTHING.**

**And also I know I labelled the main characters as 'Naruto' and 'Shikamaru' - that DOES NOT make this a yaoi fiction XD**

**Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto (Dang, if only I came up with it ¬¬)**

**Strap yourselves in, Ladies and gents**

**Here we go**

Prologue: The Way Back (part I)

Four months earlier

_Thunder crashed overhead, the skies baring tribute to the fateful duel which raged below_

_The pair danced a lethal combination of blade and intent_

_Sounds of opposing forces split the heavens after every clash_

_The two separated from one another…_

_The laboured breathing of both filled the air_

_Twin thoughts of death and defiance lingered in their minds_

_They ran at one another;_

_For the final time_

…_A moment passed_

_And one stood tall…_

_The other fell forever…_

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Present day_

They ran with blistering, well honed speed through the heavily rained darkness of the forest…The irony seemed to simply add insult to potential injury…or death as the current situation beckoned as they closed in on their objective. The wind's cold stung brutally whilst each was essentially soaked to the bone.

Not that the pair noticed.

They were chosen for this, and their objective was not to be hindered by such trivialities

They knew the risks…

S-rank missions seemed to have that general rule of thumb with those sorts of things anyway.

One stopped at a large branch, crouched low and hidden from view by the convenience of the tree's leaves

He slowly moved a solitary finger passed his outer ear in a small chopping motion, activating the tiny mental communication seals, opening a silent link with his teammate;

"_Red…_" he whispered inaudibly, calling for his partner

"_Lazy-ass_" the voice quietly replied in confirmation

The first shinobi sighed and rolled his eyes in tired irritation

"_What did one eye tell you?_" he hissed back

"_Hey, sensei said I could be myself as long as I'm quiet"_ the second whispered back hotly _"Our masks stop anyone hearing us and the area is clear...and come on…it's not like my mask hides who I am, I'm like the only Konoha male shinobi with Blond hair Dattebayo!"_

"_Troublesome…" _said the first moving his hand to his face before remembering he was wearing a mask and promptly rubbed his temples instead.

"_Now who's being obvious?_" the second asked amused

"_Can we please get back to the mission Naruto!" _said the first

"_Alright alright…Shikamaru…sheesh…" _said the loud mouth blond

At the tender ages of 16, the pair had joined the prestigious and shadowed ranks of the Konoha ANBU. A year and a few months later, they were assigned on perhaps their second most dangerous S-rank to date. Both were garbed in the typical uniform of the ANBU Black ops, complete with a katana given to them on successful entrance. Hatake Kakashi was selected as their squad leader, who after much discussion, decided to rejoin his old profession. He was also on the mission but was diverting the enemy attention away from his teammates to allow them easy access.

The pair were also wearing their first respective masks, one an unsurprising fox motif whilst the other an uncharacteristic eagle, who refused to shed much light into his choice, when a deer mask was also an option. Both were also trained to the point that they were at the very peak of their training and had changed, mentally and physically because of it…but apparently some characteristics they had as shinobi had yet to die out completely…

"_We're close to the base, I can see the cave entrance; it's about 19 metres and 2.5 feet and in front of me…and its empty" _Shikamaru answered curiously noting the lack of guard shinobi

"_No it wasn't_" Uzumaki Naruto answered

"_What do you mean?_"

"_Oh I forgot to mention, I killed the guards about twenty minutes ago_"

"WHAT!" Nara Shikamaru whispered loudly

The static making the loudmouth blond wince slightly

"_Well I made a distraction that needed someone coming to check, the seven who were there were rookie chuunin, they attacked without telling their jounin leaders I was here or really realising what they were up against_"

"_And you didn't tell me this earlier?"_ Shikamaru exclaimed

"_Well if I did, it would mean letting them know you were in the area too, anyway I had it covered"_ Naruto answered quietly, giving the message that his friend didn't necessarily need to hear to figure out.

"_You should have left them for red-eye..."_

"_He's too far away from the entrance to help, and it's not like he needed to; he's probably got his own things to worry about "_

Shikamaru sighed, briefly rubbing his temples to relax once again

"_Fine, follow on my lead_" he said and swiftly leapt forward, whilst 15 metres to his left, Naruto promptly pursued

The two landed at the entrance in a crouch, and briefly paused as they stared into the dark whole hole which due to the lack of light seemed to go on forever. But the sign on a large stone circle above the entrance of the cave gave them all the indication they needed…

The Sign of the Sound shinobi.

The Shadow user turned to his comrade

"Anything?"

Naruto's face was hidden from view, but he was audibly sniffing the air before inaudibly swearing "It stinks down there…" he grimaced "It smells like something damp, rotting or just old" he said thoughtfully, his friend knowing the Beast within his friend had altered his senses to near super-human levels.

An old memory came to mind

"It's a shame Kiba isn't here…" the shadow user said slowly

"It's a shame that none of them are, Shikamaru" Naruto snapped instantly, still focussing on his task

"I know…" the genius said sympathetically, he knew treading those waters were dangerous territory around his friend, recalling he had brutally massacred a group of Fire dignitaries for a similar, albeit more amused, mention on that account.

"I can smell someone alive down there…no wait…people…" Naruto said slowly, sniffing the air a few more times, before his eyes went wide.

"And a moving corpse…" he said in recognition

"So Intel was right…he_ is_ here…" Shikamaru said, his eyes narrowing behind his mask "Lets move" he said quickly and began running down the tunnel Naruto following suit

The pair ran down the pitch dark tunnel, the genius following the inhuman senses of his teammate for guidance as his mind was racing through thousands of possible moves the enemy could take against them.

But it seemed the enemy had _him_ confused right now…

The place was practically deserted.

As they reached the torched portions of the base, the pair had even passed over traps which failed to trigger for some unknown reason, not that they would trigger them…but simply as a test, he had attempted to activate one using his shadow, a simple pressure activation in turn leading to kunai to be launched from a vertical 360 degree angle, which covered the area of five metres.

After ensuring the alert jutsu was dismantled, he triggered it whilst Naruto stood behind him to see the result. The pair looked at each other curiously when it didn't…

"What's going on Shika?" Naruto asked

The genius remained quiet.

They were inside one of the Sound's many labyrinth bases which were scattered across many of the nations. And they were, by rule it seemed, titanic whilst still underground. And many had strange rules regarding the activation of their defences, one by physical appearance, and one by activating the seals due to proximity…

One actually had traps activated solely by sound….which he recalled being a pain to plan an appropriate trajectory

This one had none of the previous rules set…

Shikamaru blinked slowly as a theory came into mind

"Troublesome…I'm such an idiot…" he said tiredly, massaging his right temple in annoyance

"I'm sure it isn't that bad Shika, but what?" Naruto asked

The shadow user turned to him slowly

"He knows we're here" Shikamaru answered

There was a pause as the understanding eventually set in

Naruto chuckled and lowered his mask slightly to wipe his forehead

"Wow you had me worried there, I thought you were going to tell me something bad" he said cheerfully

Shikamaru raised a brow

"Naruto…" he began

"Ok look, if the freak knows we're coming, seeing how bad we thrashed his ass the last time we fought him, I'm pretty sure he's pissing himself right now. So how about you finally remember you own a pair, and act like an ANBU?" the blond shinobi said with an irritating sense of enthusiasm

"You know, Naruto…sometimes I wonder if I'm going live to regret the decision I made to reply you when you met me in the opening day of the academy" Shikamaru said with an smile and slow shake of his head

"And I wonder if you're ever going to stop being just a lazy jackass and be excited in something which doesn't involve napping, clouds or shogi, but that's not happening anytime soon is it?" Naruto replied

The shadow user grinned

"Althought I suppose I should mention kunoichi from Suna…" Naruto replied

Shikamaru frowned instantly and slowly turned towards him, realising his friend had used it deliberately

Naruto looked back, practically feeling the hard glare through the mask

"I know she's gone Shika…I lost my girl too…so that's why we need to just get this over with and make the bastard pay a thousand times for the things over for the things he's done to us" the blond shinobi said with a notable degree of fury

"Well…I suppose we are pretty even…I never thought I would be the last of my clan either…" the genius sighed slowly

The blond shinobi nodded slowly before grinning

"Dibs on killing him" Naruto said instantly

"What?" the genius said, his head snapping back at him "How the hell is that fair?" he droned out in tired irritation

"Well lets face it, you can't kill someone painfully" Naruto brushed off

Shikamaru rubbed his temple again

"Naruto, how about we get there first…and may the best shinobi win" he said with well intentioned fairness

"Deal…" the blond shinobi grinned and began running again, the genius in tow following the senses of his last living comrade.

The tunnel echoed with the sound of fast moving feet as they ran through the apparently empty base. The senses of both were kept to their utmost limits, whilst their training kept them in balance, trying to detect the slightest semblance of a trap or ambush which may decide to randomly appear. The place was barely lit as it was…the genius silently counting how many potential ambush positions they had already crossed in the past ten minutes.

He was at 127 and rising

But even the Sound were not this complacent that the need was not necessary…

Even if the bastard did know they were here.

Had their numbers dwindled to only a handful?

It seemed highly unlikely that the freak had ever been lacking 'volunteers'…True enough the past few years had confrontations so numerous that he couldn't remember all of them…

But he remembered the faces…of those that fought and fell in the name of their homeland.

Shikamaru silently planning how he would agonisingly eliminate their greatest foe to date, far more so then the Akatsuki apparently…who have been kept surprisingly quiet for the last few years…but if anything about their fearsome reputation spoke for them, it would be giving a large enough sign that the Konoha was living on precious little time…

The pair ran until they reached a fork, with each path identical to other. No markings, signs or indications to prove what lead where. The genius pondered the likelihood of which was correct…but to all intent and purposes it would be safer to flip a coin…

He looked at his partner for any assistance

"Naruto?" Shikamaru asked

The blond shinobi shook his head slowly "They both smell the same, and are making the same sounds" he said curiously

Shikamaru made a small noise of annoyance

"I say we split up" Naruto said with sense of enthusiasm

Shikamaru looked at his in bewilderment

"Naruto…you are aware we are in a base, potentially packed to the rafters with enemy shinobi, ranging anything from Genin to ANBU right?" he asked logically

"er…Yeah!" Naruto said pleasantly

"Alright, just wanted to make sure, and maintain radio silence unless you've found something" the genius smiled and looked down the path to the right before looking back at his last friend and a strange feeling of dread filled him…

Like it did the last 11 times before he lost someone…

Remembering that the enemy essentially knew they were here, Shikamaru lifted his mask with his partner confused at his gesture but following his example

"Shika?" Naruto enquired

The genius was quiet, looking down his route for a brief moment before turning back

"Stay alive Naruto" Shikamaru he said, forcing a smile

"Alright fine, but first cut that shit out" Naruto growled, his eyes narrowing whilst pointing at his friend's face in understanding

The Genius' smile faded

"You've been like this for years now…and it's gotta stop. I know rules say that the ANBU are supposed to be emotionless…but rules can go ahead and bite me, comrades come first and our bonds we made to them" Naruto said slowly before turning to look down his path "So stop being so boring, you're distracting me" he said dismissively

Shikamaru sighed

"Bonds didn't save our friends" he said quietly

"And if you don't shut up about that, the bond you have with me is going to tear you a new one" Naruto spat, looking back to him "You're the future predicting genius of Konoha, and I'm the Gutsy, loudmouth future Hokage with an infinite chakra, death-drinking daemon inside me; who no matter what happens, just can't die" he said with a smile

Shikamaru chuckled

"We're going to make it to the end, Shikamaru, and I don't go back on my promises…" Naruto began before Shikamaru answered simultaneously;

"_Because that is my way of the Ninja_" they said, though Shikamaru added a tired roll of his eyes

"Yeah I suppose I've said that enough huh?" Naruto said scratching his head slightly

"Yes you do" Shikamaru said with a nod making both laugh

Before turning silent again

"See you at the end" Naruto said with a smile before pulling his mask down

"Got it" the shadow user nodded and this time followed his partner's action.

They separated down their respective paths.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto ran through the barely lit passageways, making not the slightest sound but still moving at great speed. The base had similar appearance of any of the Sound's; dark, quiet and stinking of some definition of death. But all bases had some degree of security or shinobi to hold the fort should the defences be compromised

And hell, if his genius comrade couldn't figure it out, he sure couldn't.

After five minutes of travel, a dark voice seemingly old a time itself and filled with a bloodthirsty intelligence filled his thoughts…

"**Do you think it was wise to let your friend go through the labyrinth alone?" **said the voice, the daemon's voice echoed from behind its great sealed gate. He remembered the day his bastard of an academy teacher, Mizuki, let the secret go. He had his, at the time, tutor's life on the line following a lie to allow him the chance of becoming a full fledged shinobi…

He told him of the beast he had within;

The Nine tailed fox

The Kyuubi

The most terrifying and powerful of all the Bijuu, with an unquenchable appetite for death and carnage, who was finally bested by the Forth Hokage…his father…who sacrificed himself in order to do so. He remembered without any difficulty, the slaughter the daemon had enabled him to do whenever he drew upon its power. It seemed strange that after all these years following the knowledge of its existence;

He had almost come close to calling the beast 'friend'

Even if the damnable fox refused to lift the nickname he had developed years ago.

'Shika is smart enough to deal with the worst this place has to offer, and besides this is the best way to explore this place quickly' Naruto thought with sigh

"**Something troubling you, brat?"** the kyuubi asked, noting near downcast nature of his carrier, whilst smiling slightly at his annoyance at the title.

'I'm just wondering…is Shikamaru right?' Naruto thought

"**In what way?"**

'We both lost everything…family, Friends…loved ones…' Naruto thought slowly, as a mental image of a dark haired, pure hearted angel flooded into his mind like a beacon of light…, his heart feeling so heavy...which made the physical world seem to disappear for the time being…

His run slowed to a jog before finally stopping, his legs felt weak and he propped himself against a wall

He wished beyond else that he could see the slightest gesture of her…the slightest blink…the slimmest movement…even the smallest of smiles…

The Kyuubi closed his eyes in recollection, letting out a small silent breath

'Will this really make all that worth it…?' Naruto asked mentally

"**Perhaps not…but whilst every beginning has an end… the opposite is also true…"** the Kyuubi answered slowly **"Perhaps the fool's death may open new doors" **the daemon said wisely

Naruto stood with renewed strength

'You're right' he thought eventually, feeling hate build in him like a hurricane

He started to run again

Towards his last war…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru silently opened another door, like he had the last thirty five times;

Empty

He breathed out in annoyance

'Troublesome' he thought to himself…like he had done millions of times in the past when overly strenuous, or simply tiresome, events occurred

Where he lacked in advanced senses, he made up for in tactical and strategic genius.

But opening a door was opening a door in the end.

He stared down the apparently endless hallway, a closed room covering every ten or so meters. He therefore decided to forego the original idea of locating the enemy, and tried a different trick.

But logic came before execution

Shikamaru would be unable to move whilst using the shadow jutsu, one of the main flaws of the technique. Whilst he would be able to do so whilst using it in a small area, like in the middle of a fight, covering a large area required the utmost attention, which was taxing to his chakra if he needed to dodge something…But he concluded that the base camp was essentially empty of enemy shinobi following their prior distraction provided by Kakashi, and the technique was a loophole for the sensor proof nature of the bases which were scattered around the various nations. He didn't hear or sense anyone near by, thus assuming it safe to use his technique.

His fingers ran through the necessary numerous hand seals;

'**Shadow Detection technique' **he thought mentally

He then placed the finger tips of his left hand on the underside of his right forearm which allowed for tendrils of shadow to travel. He opened the palm of his right hand facing upwards, which the shadows gathered; he directed them by occasionally flexing his fingers slowly. Allowing his mind's eye to wonder the paths the technique provided.

His shadow spread to the shadows of the hall, under the door and those untouched by light. The theory behind the technique one of his clan's most guarded secrets, and was one of the most advanced in its arsenal. It used the shadows of the area as a type of sensor, which would allow the user to essentially have eyes everywhere which was covered in shadow. The technique had a number of drawbacks, first the inability of movement depending on the size of the area the sensors were to be used. Second the technique if used in a large area consumed chakra at an exceptionally accelerated rate…his limit of using it was five minutes…despite being quite physically fit and healthy, with a generous chakra store…

He kept his breathing calm

Searching every nook and crevice of the base, which alone left him breathless at the sheer size of it…

Its size gave an indication that it was more a labyrinth then just a small cavern, and could quite comfortably house thousands of people…

This was seriously going to cost him in chakra

Shikamaru wasted no time in searching. He noted some rooms filled with science equipment and other medical instruments, liquids which he knew had devastating properties on the human body, and technology which past experience had shown him created the abhumans that the Sound shinobi were more than eager to use in their ongoing war against the shinobi nations.

His eyebrows rose as he discovered his friend, and breathed a sigh of relief at safety. Shikamaru also noted that he was nearing a number of prison cells which the sound used to hold captives…and experiment victims…which he noted with some shock were currently in use, with innocents ranging from men, women and to his horror, children, who were as he could see, as young as perhaps a few months

He hastened to locate what he was looking for

Shikamaru's eyes widened in realisation.

Movement

Twenty five metres in front of him

His eyes narrowed as he identified it as a girl…a kunoichi to be exact…his anger flared as he recognised her…

Shikamaru deactivated his technique and passed his ear with a finger once more to open communications

"_Naruto" he whispered_

"_Any news?" _his partner answered instantly

"_I used my detection technique, if you turn the next right you will get to the holding cells filled with about Two hundred and sixty-seven prisoners"_

"_Two hundred and Sixty-seven?" _Naruto hissed in shock

"_No doubt the raid victims of the north-western fire country village a few weeks ago…all members alive and accounted for" _the genius noted with sense of solemn contentment

"_Thank Kami…but how am I supposed to get them out without anyone noticing?"_

"_I'll take care of that" said a familiar and slightly tired voice._

"_Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed_

Shikamaru breathed out in relief

The famed Copy-ninja after rejoining the ANBU had a 100% success rate, and with him as squad leader, he felt that everything could go without any further problems

"_Bingo, good work you two, I'll get the villagers out, keep with the mission. I neutralised the shinobi I distracted so it should be simple enough. Have you found the target?" _Kakashi asked

"_Not yet, but I found someone who could give us a pretty good lead" _Shikamaru said confidently

"_Excellent, interrogate them quickly before the target has realised the level of the threat and has time to escape" _Kakashi said swiftly beforea small sound was emitted to indicate his departure.

"_Shika?"_ Naruto asked with an unusual stillness

"_Yes?"_

"_So who is it…?"_ he inquired

"_It's Karin"_ Shikamaru said quietly

Naruto was silent before whispering darkly

"_Make sure it hurts"_

"_I intend to" _Shikamaru promised

XXXXXXXXXXX

Karin was frantically putting her equipment into her open rucksack which lay on her desk, with another for clothes which she had pulled from her cupboard occasionally dropping the odd book or shirt as she moved as fast as possible to leave.

Why did it have to be those two!

In the Sound Bingo book, the pair were ranked as High S-rank opponents…and due to the damned sensor proof nature of the base she was in, she could only determine the identity…not the location!

And it didn't help her situation that one of them had a huge grudge against her

She was a sensor and medic…not a fighter…

If either of those two got into her room, even if she did lock it…she wouldn't stand a chance…

'Of all damned times to be in this base…' Karin mentally cursed 'and of all damned times to be back with the Sound!'

Having essentially lost her precious Sasuke-kun a few months ago…she had removed her link to the Sound shinobi…but after a few weeks of aimless travelling without Juugo or, as much as she hated to admit it, Suigetsu, who both were killed by the pair. And her medic friend who conversed with her regularly and unwritten opponent for Sasuke-kun, was also lost due to an attack from the leaf shinobi. It seemed she had no where to go afterwards and she consequently went back to the Sound shinobi who saw their loss as necessary…

She sighed….

She really hated her job

Karin looked around for a book which taught her much of what she knew of medical ninjutsu, and was one of her oldest of possessions, resolutely refusing to leave before she found it.

She turned around slowly and went wide eyed as she saw the book being held in two hands and swung hard against her face. It was fairly large in regards to pages and size, with a hardback which was similar to a fist slamming into her cheek. She spat blood from her mouth and torn lip as her glasses flew from her face to land hard without breaking against the wall.

Karin then felt a fist crash against her stomach, making her expel all the air in her lungs before two hands grasped her head as a knee was brought upwards, crashing into her nose as she was launched backwards on to the desk she was compiling her belongings before rolling on to the floor.

"Hello Karin…it's been a long time"

She spat more blood onto the ground before moving to sit on the floor before slowly opening her eyes to look at an ANBU wearing an eagle mask which he slowly removed. Karin slowly moved a hand to her broken nose before reaching for her glasses which were close to the ground to her and angrily perching it back on her face

"Nara" she spat, fully aware that she was in serious danger without anyway of getting out

Shikamaru abruptly knelt down, making Karin nearly leap backwards into one of her desk legs "I'm surprised you're still with the Sound, I would have imagined you would have slithered to some far off hole in the ground in the other side of the world…but in all fairness I wasn't wrong was I?" he said with narrowed eyes

Karin finally managed to heal her face and broken nose before answering

"Fuck you" she spat

Before a fist slammed into her cheek, reopening the torn lip she had healed. Blood dribbled down her cheek but she remained defiant "So much for your 'No harming women' crap" she mused, before the shadow user grabbed her by the front, and slammed her against the hard wood of her closet before pinning her there.

"That still stands…but I tend not to care for women who I brand 'Universal Bitch" he spat "Funnily enough the only other woman I ever called that was also from Sound…but you remember the reason why I've labelled you that, right?" he spat, his jaw tight with barely controlled anger

"I can't recall…" Karin said with a sneer

"You arranged the bait and following ambush of the Sunan royalty…" Shikamaru began

"We needed Suna to pull out their forces…and it worked" Karin interrupted with a smirk through bloodied lips "and spare me your selfless 'justified' reasoning, you're only mad because your wind-bitch was among the casualties"

Shikamaru's face was radiating a violent rage which he even surprised himself by keeping it restrained

"Mind telling me why you're not terrified of what I could do to you?" Shikamaru asked dangerously "Like you were before I started attacking you?"

"Because I realise now that even if I die, you'll still lose…and never be allowed to die at the hands of my master…but live on as another of our abominations…" Karin muttered

"Where is he?" Shikamaru asked calmly yet demanded obedience

Karin gave him a small smirk

"The lowest room of this base, there is a staircase behind a hidden door in the same room, you access it by turning the right side torch, which leads down …well go on then…March to your death…" Karin said intoned with a smirk

Shikamaru could sense she was still deathly afraid of him, she had put on the ruse as a means to allow for her own survival, hoping that her fearlessness would make him lose interest

Karin waited with bated breath

Shikamaru was deathly quiet, still staring with murderous eyes…

Before suddenly dropping her to the ground

The kunoichi looked up in curiosity

"I can't kill an unarmed woman in front of me, I'll never live it down" Shikamaru said with a sigh and shrug before turning towards the door.

Karin stood up with a smile;

Before realising she couldn't move further.

Looking down she realised that his shadow was connected to hers

"What are you…?" she began slowly

"Well I did say I couldn't kill an unarmed woman _in front_ of me…" Shikamaru said slowly, opening the door for himself before turning to look over his shoulder "Goodbye Karin" he said and fixed his mask before walking out.

The kunoichi's breathing was quick and panicked, trying as hard as possible to fight out of the iron grip of the shadows which held her. She froze in fear as she saw tendrils break off and bind her individual limbs…

She screamed as they pulled them apart…

And then remained quiet…

The spray of her blood was the last thing she saw

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru rejoined Naruto after a short distance of running, the blond didn't ask of the condition of his opponent, but followed the instructions of the deceased kunoichi who after a brief use of his shadow technique was speaking the truth.

The door was indeed well hidden, a small space of wall which gave no indication of any entrance until they moved the small lamp as instructed

The pair looked down the dust filled darkness; their nerves were strained to their limits in anticipation through the entire process of opening the door, as though the slightest creak could be life threatening;

Which the pair knew from experience was not quite a far-fetched idea…

The blond shinobi tilted his head though to it would help his vision

It didn't

"Just once, I wish that an enemy underground base had a well lit and cheerful look to the route to its leader…" Naruto thought out loud, shaking his head slightly

"That would kind of defeat the purpose of being an 'enemy's underground base' Naruto" Shikamaru pointed out "I mean, its not like this is _supposed_ to look inviting" he said, staring down the apparently empty abyss

"Well, Pineapples first" Naruto motioned with his head

The genius looked at him, fully aware that his partner knew his eyebrow was raised in irritation

"Can't blame me for adding some humour" the blond said defensively with a smile, before beginning the obvious long walk down the steps

The genius rolled his eyes and followed before walking into the back of his partner who had abruptly stopped

"Shouldn't we wait for Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said over his shoulder

Shikamaru remained silent

Briefly taking a back step so his head was in the corridor once again

"_Red eye…" _he said quietly into his communication technique

Quiet

"_Red-eye?" he repeated with greater emphasis;_

Further silence

"The hell is going on?" Naruto said listening in "We're not _that_ far down from when we talked to him last…"

Shikamaru nodded slowly

Disruption on the technique could potentially mean that the enemy were aware of them and sought to keep them as separated as possible…

Naturally it could also mean a wide variety of other, far worse, assumptions…

But before he could give his answer, static filled their ear. Making the pair wince at the volume and sharp sound

"_Naruto…kamaru…Listen…" _

"Is that sensei?" Naruto asked, the extent of noise made it near impossible to discern properly

"Yeah I think it is…" Shikamaru deduced

"…_hostages….clear…carry on…mission"_ said Kakashi, amidst the caterwauling

"_Got it, so where are you?"_ Naruto asked

"…Above…" Kakashi said before the static became too much to understand each other

The pair simultaneously lowered their hands from their ears

"So we continue without him" said the shadow user, his eyes narrowing in thought, which was instantly caught by his comrade

"What's wrong?"

"He called us by our names" the shadow user replied calmly

"So what?" asked the blond shinobi

The genius looked at his partner with sharp eyes

"Naruto, we're ANBU, Kakashi included, and even though each of us tends not to follow the rules and guidelines to the letter…" Shikamaru explained slowly "Our team leader, perhaps one of the most renowned shinobi of Konoha's history made a mistake which you would find committed by a _genin" _he explained

The degree of suspicious disgust he had was almost blinding

Naruto however seemed unbothered

"Shika…think about it for a second...This is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about, he probably figured out, like you already did that being subtle is pretty much pointless in a place where the enemy can likely hear you blink"

"This is a bad time to be optimistic, Naruto" Shikamaru said looking down the dark corridor

Silently storing that error within easy remembrance...

"Yeah I suppose…" Naruto breathed out in irritation and carried on down the path "But I seriously hate this place now"

"_Now_ you hate it?" Shikamaru said with a tinge of amusement, following after his partner

"_Not now_" Naruto growled

The stair case was indeed long, taking almost five minutes to travel its entire length.

Naruto reached the final step and stared at the plain room which the hidden door had lead them to

Looking around again he sighed

Shikamaru behind him rolled his eyes in boredom;

Two paths lead were ahead of them again

"Ok seriously, this is getting old, dattebayo" the blond shinobi said with tired annoyance, before using his advanced senses "Same as before, nothing different between them"

Shikamaru let out a small chuckle

"Something funny?" Naruto asked behind him

"It's troublesome, but I haven't heard you say 'dattebayo' this often in years" the genius commented lightly

"I gave up on being that guy a long time ago Shikamaru" his partner said darkly "I take left", he said before walking off silently

The shadow user shook head before gesturing stabbing himself in the heart with an imaginable kunai before looking down his own path

"Call back in five minutes if you find anything" Shikamaru said to his friends retreating back

"I know the protocol Shika" Naruto replied without turning and slowly disappeared from sight.

The genius began walking his own path…

'Hopefully this one could be slightly more eventful' he thought to himself

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto broke into a run after a few minutes, hoping to get going with

"**Wasn't that a little cold, brat?" **the voice echoing within his mind

'He'll get over it' Naruto dismissed "There is far more at stake then noticing an old catchphrase

"**I suppose it would be a safe assumption…" **the Kyuubi said calmly before remaining silent

Naruto turned the corner, and noted how the path led to a single door, giving no sign or indication, or message indicating its contents…

But he needed none of those things…

The door practically seeped an aura of death that it was practically glowing.

"**Cue torrent of blood..." **said the daemon fox with a hint of amusement

'Seriously fuzzy, not now' Naruto replied

"**WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT NICKNAME IN GREAT DETAIL BRAT!" **the Kyuubi roared behind his sealed gates

Naruto smiled slightly, reaching backwards to hold his sword, securely holstered on his back.

The area grew cold…

And sound itself seemed to slowly die out

He tested it by lightly tapping onto the nearest wall

Grabbing onto the door handle as noiselessly as possible was pointless now…

It was like he was deaf now…

Naruto pushed the handle down and kicked it open with his left, before drawing his sword and taking a short leap backwards, blade held at the ready, horizontally to the right of his head

He looked at the pitch black interior

And waited;

His senses straining to pick up the slightest action

His blue eyes narrowed though preparing to be jumped upon at any second, a thin bead of sweat travelled down his back, he forced himself not to shiver;

After fifteen seconds, he slowly, and tentatively, made his way inside…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru silently ran though his path, finding it as eventful as his last long pathway

Soon enough, he saw a door in the distance…surrounded by shadow…with no lights illuminating the hall leading to it

He mentally wondered if his friend was having a similar experience

The genius started to grow cold inside…

Strange considering he didn't really have anything left to be afraid of…or lose for that matter…

He calmly walked towards the ominous door, his hand slowly reached for his sword hilt behind him

A small nagging voice at the edge of his subconscious insisted he call his comrade before proceeding…But he found himself drawn, like a moth to a roaring inferno…the feeling of a potential death seemed to grow with every step

Drawing his katana, he held it loosely has he approached the entrance…aware that the sound seemed to die out

An intriguing idea…he thought to himself

Shikamaru dared a brief backwards glance;

The path he walked seemed so far away.

Looking back to the door, he noted how dry his mouth went…

Suddenly images of his lost family and friends appeared in his mind like an unknown defence mechanism…they were all smiling, looking at him with love and reassurance…

As did one particular fiery, dominating she-beast who had the smile made just for him

'Here I come…' Shikamaru thought with a sad smile before kicking open the door, the sound of the handle lock breaking as it slammed open

The shadow user instantly drew his sword, holding so the blade travelled out the bottom of his hand.

He held it horizontally, like a wall between him and anything that came.

It was so quiet…

And the door seemed to simply be the entrance to a black void.

He carefully sidestepped into the darkness…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto held his blade in position…not wanting to lower it for a second

Four openings in the ceiling allowed for some light to touch the room's apparently clear floor

But otherwise no light shone, no lamp or even candle glowed to indicate any end or far off wall

It was essentially pitch black

But the intent to kill that surrounded him was intense…

And the smell of decomposing flesh was beyond belief, burning his nostrils and forcing him to push back his gag reflex, and ultimately making him lose his sense of awareness.

It was a shame that all Sound bases seemed to be like that…

'Fox…can you sense anything?' he thought, asking the usually omniscient daemon within

Nothing

'Fox!' he shouted mentally

Again nothing

His eyes narrowed

Something in the room was disrupting his connection with the daemon within him…he felt like gathering its chakra was still possible…but being able to communicate was somehow being hindered, which he had to admit was something new

He could almost imagine the fox roaring behind his cage in warning…

Naruto thought briefly if he should give himself some light to help him, but wondered if it would leave him vulnerable…really not something which is suggested in these type of situations…

But he was in a base belonging to shinobi who were renowned for not needing their eyes to fight.

Naruto noiselessly holstered his sword and reached into two of his three ANBU shinobi pouches and drew twelve small blades. A recent creation within Konoha, the glow darts, which often confused him due to the simple fact that they looked like miniature kunai then anything else, each only two inches in length, but the hilt end of each was small glass with a thin filament which burned brightly if fed a harmless amount of chakra, each were enough to light a small room on their own…but the current situation indicated that he was at least in a large hall of sorts

The ANBU held two between each gap of his four fingers and crossed his arms in an X.

He threw his arms in large horizontal crescent shapes, throwing a glow dart after a few milliseconds after the other, before leaping backwards in case any shinobi were to jump him after seeing him.

Naruto's right hand shot to his katana as each of the glow darts hit a section of wall and simultaneously began to glow; lightening up the area he was in.

It was indeed a hall, a fairly large one at that…

But what was kept here was anyone's guess…

Large patches of dry blood stained the floor, with wide reaching streaks staining the walls his blades were against. Looking around he finally saw them…

Bodies

A lot of them

There would be hundreds if all the body parts scattered around here put together

Violently torn to shreds by something he would prefer not to meet, as the indication of the senseless gore which surrounded him

Like the thing didn't even want to eat them…but to simply tear the people apart

But feed it did…

Some of the tears on the body were evidently made by _teeth_

Strangely enough the four points where the lights had shone upon were the only clean areas

Naruto raised a hand to his ear to signal his comrade

A simple gesture which would remove the need to talk

Nothing…

What was stopping him talking to his daemon was disrupting his connection with his friend…

Lowering his hand…he heard something to his left and by reflex he faced it fully

Naruto saw nothing…But that didn't reassure him in the slightest…

The sound was a drop of water…

And he noted with an utter sense of displeasure that there was not a single puddle of water to be seen.

Knowing full well what type of liquid had dropped

Naruto really hated these moments

He slowly tilted his head upwards…

The ceiling was crimson.

Large pieces of flesh and limbs dangled from a thick carpet of cadavers. He couldn't quite tell how many people were up there, but he knew that all the bodies on the ground combined couldn't make up half of it…meaning at least somewhere in the hundreds

Strangely enough, it wasn't even the mass of gore that unnerved him…but rather that he had half imagined the creature itself hanging there like some rip-off from a horror mov…

His heightened senses were alerted

And felt a brief jolt travel down his spine;

Forcing Naruto to mentally slap himself

Perhaps it wasn't completely original…but it was more then enough to outsmart him…

Naruto very slowly turned his head around to face his enemy

He breathed a sigh

'Well at least that explains the smell' he thought, taking a defensive step backwards and grasping his sword hilt;

Preparing himself for yet _another_ fight for his life…

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Authors note: Well that's Part one!**

**The time travelling actually takes place next chapter**

**So don't worry :)**

**A 'bit' dark?**

**Yes**

**A bit cruel?**

**Ohhh yes**

**But it all serves some weird purpose I assure you**

**And before you ask, yes I know, Naruto and Shikamaru don't even look remotely like 'Instruments' XD**

**It's a metaphor!**

**And I should also mention for labelling sake;**

**Certain members of the cast _will_ die during this story**

**Which I WAS going to call 'The hands of fate' but that title had been used a billion times over so it didn't seem original enough (Not to say mine is, but it seems more imposing this way XD)**

**But a rather interesting thought appeared in my mind when I was writing this:**

**Will the actual Naruto manga end before I finish this story?**

**I must say that is a pervading fear I seem to have…**

**Which I realise I wouldn't be surprised about considering how late I released this story**

**(P.s, If you haven't yet, Read my other story, it's a BEAST!)**

**Please review!**


End file.
